India win 1-run thriller against South Africa

Johannesburg: Munaf Patel capped a stunning late charge from India with two wickets in four balls for a thrilling one-run win over South Africa in the second one-day international at the Wanderers on Saturday.

Patel removed Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell as India took 6-37 in a dramatic finish to deny the Proteas what appeared to be a straightforward victory.

South Africa collapsed from 152-4 to 189 all out in 10.5 frantic overs to fall just short of India's 190 all out, leaving the five-match series level at 1-1 with three to play.

It was only India's fourth ODI victory in South Africa and first in 10 years.

In his record-breaking 139th match as Proteas one-day captain, Graeme Smith's 77 guided his team to within 39 runs of victory, with a comfortable six wickets in hand and 28 overs left.

But Smith's dismissal to Patel, who finished with a man-of-the-match 4-29 off eight overs, began the home team's sudden slide.

Tailenders Morkel and Parnell then dragged South Africa to within three runs of victory before Morkel was caught at backward point and Parnell fell for 12 to an almost identical shot moments later, caught by Yuvraj Singh, to seal India's incredible comeback.

"It was a big win for us," captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said. "We were short of runs but it was a terrific performance from the bowlers. They put a lot of pressure on the South Africans.

"Overall I'm really happy with the performance. It makes the series interesting now."

Zaheer Khan backed up Patel with 2-37 for India, including the crucial middle-order wickets of David Miller (27) and Johan Botha (4).

Smith took South Africa to a position of strength, and almost certain victory, with his 43rd ODI half-century while overtaking the late Hansie Cronje's record as one-day captain.

The left-handed opener hit eight fours and shared a 59-run partnership with Colin Ingram, who made 25, and then a 43-run stand with JP Duminy (13) as the Proteas cruised toward a 2-0 series lead.

But Duminy lost his head against part-time spinner Rohit Sharma to hole out in the deep and South Africa's batsmen suddenly became nervous.

Smith was bowled by a clever slower ball from Patel, Miller fell when he top-edged a pull shot, and Dale Steyn ran himself out to leave South Africa 177-8 — and the tailenders couldn't take them home.

"Credit to MS (Dhoni) and his team, they held their nerve at the end," Smith said. "Some of our decision-making was not good enough and we need to be honest about that and regroup. But you can't take it away from India."

India struggled early on.

Having chosen to bat first, it also collapsed in its innings, losing 6-21 to be bowled out for a below-par 190 in 47.2 overs.

Sachin Tendulkar, in his record-equaling 444th one-day international, made a sluggish 24 from 44 balls, Dhoni had 38 and only Yuvraj, with his 53, kept India from an undefendable target.

Lonwabo Tsotsobe claimed a career-best 4-22 for South Africa, a likely man-of-the-match performance, before Patel's crucial late intervention claimed the honor.

The seamer, who was a replacement for the injured Praveen Kumar in the first game, removed Hashim Amla early on, tricked Smith with a slower ball and then held his nerve to keep Morkel and Parnell out in his match-winning over. He used his clever change of pace for both wickets when a mistake would have meant defeat.

"All I was thinking about was line and length," Patel said, "and of course the slower ball helped a lot."

Australia beat England to level T20 series

Melbourne: Australia finally had something to celebrate after recording an unlikely four-run win over England in the second Twenty20 international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.

After Australia battled to 147-7 thanks to an unbeaten half-century by second-gamer Aaron Finch, England looked set to cruise to victory when they were 58-0 after six overs, with opener Ian Bell on song.

However, England's quest to extend their record unbeaten T20 streak to nine matches, having defeated Australia on the last ball of Wednesday's game in Adelaide, came unstuck as their middle order failed to deliver.

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As was the case in Australia's lone win during the Ashes series, in the third Test at the WACA Ground, it was paceman Mitchell Johnson (3-29) who turned the match on its head.

Johnson claimed the vital wicket of Bell (39) when the right-hander dragged a ball onto his stumps in the seventh over to end an opening stand of 60.

The left-hander then followed up by having the dangerous Kevin Pietersen caught for one three balls later.

Johnson also removed the dangerous Eoin Morgan for 14, while Shane Watson backed up his brilliant effort in Wednesday's match with a frugal 2-17 from four overs.

With 13 runs needed off the last three balls from Brett Lee, young England all-rounder Chris Woakes threatened to repeat his heroics on Wednesday when he lofted the paceman into the stands to make it seven needed from two balls.

But Lee got the job done as Australia snapped a run of five successive losses in T20 internationals.

Man of the match Finch, in just his second international, hit 53 not out from 33 balls in a crucial performance with the bat for the home side.

Australia side got off to a quick start and were 57-1 after six overs, but lost 4-17 as Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy wreaked havoc, the two English spinners recording identical figures of 2-19 from their four overs.

Ind-SA: Injury-hit India ready to fight back

Johannesburg: Thrashed in the first game in Durban, India would hope to put up a far more inspired display as they go into the second cricket one-dayer against South Africa here on Friday with a few problems to sort out in both the bowling and batting departments.
The Indians did well by drawing the Test series 1-1 and then winning the only T20 game on Sunday but the humiliating 135-run defeat in the first match came as a big blow for the
visitors who have to regroup before its too late.
Already plagued by injuries to key players, nothing seemed to have gone right for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men in Durban as both the batting and bowling left much to be desired.
The Indians have a track record of not doing too well in the first match on tours and Dhoni and his men will be looking to bounce back and level the five-match series 1-1 at the New Wanderers ground which is likely to aid the pace bowlers.
Already missing key players such as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the injury list has only grown longer with paceman Praveen Kumar also returning home because of an injury.
Paceman S Sreesanth is also recovering from an elbow injury, which forced him to sit out of the first match, and it remains to be seen whether the Kerala speedster is fit enough to take the field on Saturday.
Batting has been India's strength but the top order collapsed like a pack of cards to be reduced to 43 for four in the first match and the team could never really recover from
that jolt.
Sachin Tendulkar, returning to the Indian one-day fold after close to a year, has a big role to play and the champion batsman has to take up the responsibility of giving India a
competitive total on the board.
The Indian lineup has a number of young but talented players such as Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina but they have to fire when it matters most. Kohli
was the only batsman to score a half century in the last game unlike the South Africans who had three batsmen coming up with substantial contributions. The failure to build partnerships made India's chase all the more difficult.
For the off-colour Yuvraj Singh, it is the final chance to convince the selectors that he is the same destructive force which won India many a matches before the stunning slump
in form.
Unlike the Indians, the South Africans put up a clinical show but captain Graeme Smith cautioned his teammates not to take the visitors lightly.
"I expect them to bounce back. We have to put our foot down in the next match," Smith said.
For the Indians, pacer Ashish Nehra was a big disappointment in Durban, and that forced captain Dhoni to use three part-time bowlers to try and contain the run flow. But it is highly unlikely that the team management will drop him as the left-arm seamer had done well in the past.
"Honestly speaking, these are the four-five fast bowlers we have got. We do not have many options to play with. So we have to back them to do well. Whether they are in match practice or not, what is important is that we take care of these bowlers and they should go in the World Cup without any injuries," Dhoni had said.
South Africa will miss prolific all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who is nursing an injury. The veteran has been the key player in the South African batting lineup and has been more
than handy with the ball as well.
But the Proteas still have a good batting lineup with skipper Graeme Smith, the explosive duo of AB de Villiers and JP Duminy and the consistent Hashim Amla to anchor the middle-order. Amla, de Villiers and Duminy struck half centuries in the first match and will be looking to maintain that form.
The Indians are aware that they could have done much better in the first game and captain Dhoni has promised to bounce back in the series.
"We could have done better. When you are playing with four bowlers, you are under a bit of pressure, that if one of the bowler does not bowl well, then you have to make those overs with the part timers.
"We can bounce back. We can play better cricket than this. That way cricket is good game as in every match you start afresh. We have to click as a unit to win matches," Dhoni said.
It is the final ODI series that India and South Africa play before the World Cup starting February 19, and both sides would look to settle their squads for the big event through
these five matches.
Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c/wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, S Sreesanth.
South Africa: Graeme Smith (c), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers (wk), Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Colin Ingram, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Collingwood predicts India to reach WC semis

Dubai: With little more than a month to go for the ICC Cricket World Cup, England middle-order batsman Paul Collingwood has predicted that India, South Africa, Australia and his native country will make it to the semi-finals of the mega-event starting February 19 in Dhaka.

"On current form I'd hope to put England into a semi-final, it would be hard to not put India in there with the strength in their batting and in home conditions they'll be tricky to play against," Collingwood said in an exclusively chat with ICC Cricket World audio show.

"I always think Australia can't be ruled out since they've had a good history in this tournament and finally I'd pick South Africa as the fourth semi-finalist. But you never know I may be well off the mark!" he added.

The 34-year-old batsman, who announced his retirement from Test cricket last week, also said that after their triumphant Ashes campaign, England would seek to carry on the winning momentum in the upcoming ODI series against Australia as well as the World Cup.

"It's a huge motivation to do well against Australia in all formats of the game. We want to keep the momentum going from the Test series and we want to carry that into the ICC Cricket World Cup. We want to finish the ODI series in Australia filled with confidence and ready to take on anyone at the World Cup," Collingwood said.

1st ODI: SA maul India by 135 runs

Durban: India suffered a top-order collapse to slump to a humiliating 135-run defeat against a clinical South Africa in the first one-dayer here on Wednesday.

Chasing 290 for victory, India were never in the hunt after they lost their first four batsmen for just 43 runs and were ultimately bundled out for 154 in 35.4 overs. Virat Kohli top-scored for India with a well-made 54 off 70 balls and together with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (25 off 35) added 52 runs for the fifth wicket to take India past the 150-mark.

Apart from Kohli and Dhoni, Suresh Raina was the other notable contributory for India with 32 off 36 balls.

Man of the Match Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the pick of the South African bowlers with figures of four for 31 while pace partners Dale Steyn (2/29) and Morne Morkel (2/12) scalped two wickets apiece.

Earlier, AB de Villers and JP Duminy notched up contrasting half centuries to propel South Africa to a challenging 289 for nine. South Africa were looking good for a few more, but four wickets for just 56 runs in the last 10 overs somewhat foiled their plans.

Duminy (73 off 89) and de Villiers (76 off 69) scored at will, picking the gaps and finding the boundaries with consummate ease, after Hashim Amla (50 off 36) gave the hosts a flying start with an aggressive half-century at the Sahara Stadium in Kingsmead here.

For India, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and Rohit Sharma finished with two wickets each, while Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra and Raina accounted for a victim each.

England win thriller to set T20 record

ADELAIDE, Australia - Debutant Chris Woakes guided England to a record eighth successive Twenty20 win as the tourists inflicted more torment on Australia with a final ball one-wicket victory at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.
Despite all-rounder Shane Watson's best efforts to single-handedly lift the home side to victory, 21-year-old Woakes (19 not out) was the hero as he hit the winning run from the final ball of the England innings.
After Australia posted 157-4, with Watson top-scoring with 59 from 31 balls, England wobbled in the chase as Watson picked up four wickets, but Woakes' cool head enabled them to reach 158-9 and snatch the win.
England previously shared the record for most successive T20 international wins with South Africa and Pakistan and the result follows hard on the heels of their historic 3-1 Ashes triumph over the embattled Australians.
England captain Paul Collingwood heralded the new record.
"Eight wins (in a row) in this form of the game is very special," he said.
"It was a great game of cricket, it had everything. I thought we probably should have seen it through a little bit easier, but Twenty20 cricket can get a little bit like that towards the end."
Watson took little solace from his own form and said the Australians should have posted a higher total.
"To get so close is very disappointing," he said.
"It would have been nice to get a few more."
With wickets falling at the other end, Woakes kept his cool when he found himself on strike with his side needing three runs from the last two balls from Watson with only one wicket in hand.
He slashed the next delivery to the cover boundary for two, then drove Watson through the infield for what would have been a boundary had he and number 11 Ajmal Shahzad not completed the winning run first.
Woakes' innings came after Eoin Morgan put England on the path to victory with 43, but the match turned when the left-hander holed out to Watson, who then removed Michael Yardy with the next ball to be on a hat-trick.
Watson could scarcely have done more for the home side, with 4-15 from his four overs after his solo effort with the bat.
The powerful right-hander hit three sixes from the first three balls England spinner Graeme Swann bowled and took 26 off the over.
But he was bowled by Yardy (2-28) and Australia failed to build on the foundation he had provided after being 76-0 after eight overs.
None of the other Australian batsman looked comfortable, with new captain Cameron White, taking over from Michael Clarke, making just six.
The two teams meet again on Friday at the MCG, before playing a seven-match one-day series. Scoreboard: Australia v England T20